Coaches, scorekeepers and parents are encouraged to report youth sports events on this interactive blog. Selected reports will be used in print as the youth sports highlight of the day on the Plus section cover.

Youth sports for the week ending Oct. 21

To file your results, just add your report as a comment here. Look for information from the youth sports blog in the newspaper during the week. Check the daily youth sports highlight on the bottom left corner of Plus section cover.

Make sure comment clearly indicates the event, the score, the teams involved, and the sport. There shouldn’t be more than three players used in each comment. Please use an individual statistic (e.g.- points, home runs, goals) to highlight what each player did well.

***IF YOUR REPORT IS NOT POSTED WITHIN 24 HOURS, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO marktomeara@gmail.com***

4 Responses to Youth sports for the week ending Oct. 21

> The San Marin Ponys* youth football team traveled to Santa Rosa on Sunday (10/14) to play the Redwood P.A.L. Golden Bears in what will rank as one of the most exciting games of the season. The Bears threw down the gauntlet on the opening kickoff, returning the ball up the right sideline for a touchdown, but failed to convert the extra point. The Ponys answered three plays later when tight end Zach Cunningham carried the ball around right end, dodging several would-be tacklers, and racing 54 yards to the end zone. The Bears thwarted the Ponys extra-point attempt and then assembled a seven-play touchdown drive. The scoreboard read 12-6 after Pony linebacker Riley Erickson made a diving tackle to stop the Bear extra-point play. The teams then traded the next few possessions without scoring. Despite big gains by Pony ball-carriers Joe Abell and Kai Peterson and Riley Erickson, the Ponys returned the ball on downs but stopped the Bears with big tackles from defensive end Cunningham (multiple sacks), and linemen Kai Peterson, Josiah Henderson and Nick Lamerdin. The Bears secured their final score of the game late in the first half, increasing the score to 19-6 in their favor.
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> Determined to win, the Pony offense followed the blocking of fullback Dante DiMare and linemen Jake Dillon, Michael Lamerdin, James Landis, Tyler Marvier and Billy Plummer to the end zone, with Cunningham eventually carrying the ball over the goal line on a five-yard counter play. With the Ponys unable to gain the extra point, the score remained 19-12. The teams again traded several action-packed possessions. After Pony defensive end Matthew Sargent stopped the Bear reverse play on fourth down, quarterback Sargent connected with Cunningham on an 11-yard slant pass. When Bear drives faltered, the Bears twice resorted to fake punt attempts. On one such attempt, Cunningham forcibly separated punter from ball, which was quickly recovered by Landis. On the second fake punt play, Pony linebacker Tyler Marvier sacked the punter, setting up the game’s decisive drive. The Ponys, needing seven points to tie, went to work near midfield with nearly two minutes remaining. Cunningham gained 22 yards on six carries, but a penalty pushed the Ponys back to the Bear 32-yard line. Behind superior pass-blocking, Sargent searched for a deep receiver. Sargent rifled a 24-yard pass to wideout Jack Curtis who was immediately tackled at the eight-yard line. The Ponys sprinted to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball with eight seconds left in the game. On the following play, Cunningham raced around left end but was tackled short of the end zone as time expired. Final score: Bears 19, Ponys 12.
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> The Ponys travel next Sunday to play the Sonoma Junior Dragons.
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> (* Traditional spelling of the team name.)

In the last game of the regular season in the Marin Interleague Soccer Alliance Under-14 boys’, the San Geronimo Valley’s Two Bird Cafe team struggled to a 2-2 tie against a strong and aggressive San Rafael Panthers team at Pickleweed Park on Saturday, Oct. 20th.
Both teams worked hard to maintain ball control, and to break up the other team’s passing, and scores were harder to come by than Two Bird has been accustomed to this year as they racked up 52 goals and gave up only 12 in their twelve games, finishing the regular season 8-1-1.
Christopher Mothersill scored both of Two Bird’s goals, assisted by Noah Bice and Quincy Smith.
Two Bird enters the 16 team playoffs next weekend as the number one seed.

Mill Valley Soccer Club’s top U13 boys team rallied for a 4-1 win against Atletico Santa Rosa Inter in league play. Forward Jack Singer scored his first goal early in the game then scored another in the second half taking a clean pass from midfielder Nathan Lopes. Lopes then sent the ball over Atletico’s defense to teammate Marco Jacques who chipped it in over the keeper. Singer later assisted Thomas Whalen for the final goal.